Science Nation: Unmanned Helicopters Could Help Air Traffic Controllers

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Unmanned Helicopters Could Help Air Traffic Controllers
Small aircraft could have big impact on safety
The chilling video of a small plane and...
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Unmanned Helicopters Could Help Air Traffic Controllers

Small aircraft could have big impact on safety

The chilling video of a small plane and helicopter colliding over the Hudson River in early August showed that technology can't always protect the crowded skies. Nine people died in that crash in New York City.

Some answers to better collision avoidance systems may come from unusual tools: small, autonomous helicopters that are getting smarter all the time.

"We're interested in developing automated collision avoidance algorithms that can be used for civilian aircraft in the air traffic control system," said Claire Tomlin, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley and professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University.